Content about Same-sex unions in the United States

Tucked in US President Barack Obama's 2016 budget is a major change for gay couples.

The $4 trillion budget released yesterday (2 January) proposes an amendment to the Social Security Act to make all gay married couples eligible to receive spousal benefits, regardless of where they live.

Under current federal law, social security benefits are only available to gay married couples living in the 36 states that recognize such unions.

Idaho Governor and Attorney General say marriage is a state's-rights issue and that the state has been consistent in legalizing only hetrosexual marriage

A ruling by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in October legalized same-sex marriage in Idaho after rejecting Idaho Governor CL 'Butch' Otter's argument to uphold the ban. He argued Idaho residents have the right to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

On Friday Otter filed an appeal with the US Supreme Court making good on his promise to take the fight against gay marriage to the highest court.

Attorney General Lawrence Wasden has also filed a separate petition to the US Supreme Court.

Decision 6th Circuit Court of Appeals opens the doors for US Supreme Court to review cases in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee

Momentum for marriage equality in the US hit a major roadblock on Thursday (6 November) when a federal appeals court upheld gay marriage bans in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

The ruling by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals applies to six cases in the four states where federal judges had struck down same-sex marriage bans.

It comes after more than 30 federal rulings since June 2013 declaring bans on gay marriage to be unconstitutional. The previous legal victories have led to same-sex marriage now being legal in 32 states.

Decision comes a day after marriage equality comes to six additional US states

Same-sex weddings in Las Vegas?

It appears to be just a matter of time now that the Ninth District Court of Appeals has struck down gay marriage bans in the states of Nevada and Idaho.

The ruling comes a day after the US Supreme Court opted not to intervene in gay marriage appeals in Utah, Virginia, Oklahoma, Indiana and Wisconsin making same-sex marriage legal in those states. Colorado also began issuing licenses to same-sex marriages this week.

Justices rule that registry does not violate the state's ban on gay marriage

Same-sex couples still can't get married in Wisconsin but they can continue to register to have some of the rights heterosexual married couples automatically have.

The state's supreme court ruled Thursday (31 July) that a 2009 that established a registry for same-sex couples in 2009 does not violate the state's ban on gay marriage.

The registry grants same-sex couples such things as insurance benefits under their partner's plan, the right to inherit assets upon the death of their partner as well as hospital visitation and medical leave to care for their partner.

C. Scott Crabtree becomes the 16th judge to rule a marriage ban in the US unconstitutional over the past 12 months

A Colorado state judge on Wednesday (9 July) ruled that Colorado's ban on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional.

But gay marriages still don't have the green light with the ruling because Judge C. Scott Crabtree stayed his ruling pending an expected appeal by the state.

His ruling, the latest in a string of marriage equality victories in the US, did not come as a surprise since Crabtree had not seemed impressed with the state's arguments for upholding the ban approved by voters in 2006.

Unanimous Supreme Court ruling makes New Mexico 17th US state with marriage equality

New Mexico's Supreme Court has made it unanimously clear: same-sex couples in the state can legally marry.

The justices found that barring couples from marrying based on their sexual orientation violates the Equal Protection Clause of the state's constitution.

'We hold that the State of New Mexico is constitutionally required to allow same-gender couples to marry and must extend to them the rights, protections, and responsibilities that derive from civil marriage under New Mexico law,' the justices wrote in their opinion.

Tropical island state close to becoming the next part of the US to legalize gay marriage

Hawaii's House of Representatives has passed a third reading of a same-sex marriage bill. If passed in the Senate next week, the state will become the 15th (or the 16th if the governor of Illinois signs their law first) in the US to legalize gay marriage.

Justices will rule on Governor Chris Christie's appeal to stop marriages from beginning this month

The state's highest court will decide if same-sex couples in New Jersey can begin getting married.

The New Jersey Supreme Court announced Friday (11 October) that it will hear an appeal to a state judge's order that New Jersey allow same-sex marriage as of 21 October.

The case that will decide marriage equality in the state is a lawsuit filed in July by group of couples and Garden State Equality seeking to get New Jersey to recognize gay marriages in light of a US Supreme Court ruling in June that struck down key provisions of the Defense of Marriage Act.

A New Jersey judge has ruled that the state must permit same-sex marriages.

According to an Associated Press report, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson's decision noted that because the federal government recognizes gay marriages, the US Northeastern state violates its own constitution by not doing the same.

Pennsylvania's Tom Corbett, up for reelection next year, now must decide whether or not to step in

The attorney general of Pennsylvania's decision this week not to defend the state's gay marriage ban in court is not going over so well with the state's governor.

Governor Tom Corbett, a Republican who is up for reelection next year, must now make the politically tricky decision of wether to have his office take up defense of the 1996 law which is being challenged in federal court.

The social network announced its support of new legislation that would give tax breaks to LGBT employees who pay for their partner's benefits

Facebook is throwing its support behind tax equity legislation for same-sex couples in California.

According to the LGBT@Facebook page: 'Facebook today announced its support of legislation that would provide tax relief for employees who receive reimbursement from their employer for federal taxes they paid on healthcare benefits provided to their same-sex partner and dependents.'

The leader of US national campaign group Freedom to Marry told GSN the story of how the fight for marriage equality had begun in the US, where it will be going in the year to come, and why we will win in the end

US civil rights lawyer Evan Wolfson spoke to a packed room at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday night about the progression of the struggle for LGBT marriage rights in the United States, and the lessons that struggle has for other countries around the world.

A new poll shows that Maine voters are getting behind gay couples getting married. According to a survey, conducted by the Maine People's Resource Center, 58 percent support same sex marriage being legal in the state.

'This result is slightly higher than but does not represent a statistically significant difference from the results of two other recent public polls,' the center noted in its press release.